The 18-year-old student at West Sound Academy beat out more than 8,000 candidates with his company CBC Chocolates. As a result, the Kingston teenager will receive a $10,000 scholarship. He plans to attend Seattle University in the fall.

Crabtree, who became interested in the chocolate business after taking a culinary class in school, opened a 1,200-square-foot kitchen and chocolate shop last year. He recently added an espresso bar to the operation.

“It has been an exciting journey full of hard work, frustration, ingenuity and most importantly, joy and success,” said Crabtree in a statement. “This scholarship will most certainly help to further my knowledge of the business world as I pursue my college degree.”

Crabtree should be well known to Seattle-area investors, since he wowed many of them last year as a featured speaker at the Early Stage Investment Forum.